Disengaging with China not credible, says James Cleverly

Foreign Secretary James Cleverly has defended holding talks with Chinese officials successful Beijing, saying it would not beryllium "credible" to disengage.

Meeting China's vice president, Mr Cleverly said the trip, the archetypal by a specified a elder UK fig successful 5 years, would assistance debar "mistrust and errors".

But up of his visit, immoderate UK MPs attacked the government's attack to China arsenic "incoherent".

Senior Conservative MP Sir Iain Duncan Smith compared it to "appeasement".

Relations betwixt the UK and China has deteriorated successful caller years pursuing concerns implicit threats to civilian liberties successful the erstwhile British colony of Hong Kong, the menace of espionage and power operations by China successful the UK, and China's enactment of Russia during the penetration of Ukraine.

Speaking to the BBC, Mr Cleverly said his sojourn was an accidental to talk "directly and unambiguously" connected areas of disagreement and "work unneurotic wherever it is successful our communal involvement to bash so".

He said it would let the UK to "re-establish lines of communication" and added that a deficiency of face-to-face engagement could pb to "more opportunities for possibly misinterpretations, mistrust and errors".

"I'm realistic that 1 telephone call, 1 visit, 1 gathering isn't going to fundamentally alteration the absorption of travel," helium said, but added that "patient, accordant and reliable connection could person an effect".

"That is wherefore I bring up issues astir quality rights, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and so idiosyncratic cases each clip I person meetings with representatives of the Chinese government."

Asked astir China's enactment for Russia successful Ukraine, Mr Cleverly said the state had an involvement successful bringing the warfare to "a just and palmy conclusion".

"I don't deliberation it is successful China's involvement for their to beryllium a cognition they are supporting actively oregon adjacent passively Putin's actions.

"I deliberation Beijing bash attraction what the satellite thinks of them. They recognise their aboriginal is interwoven with the prospects of different countries astir the world."

On Wednesday, Mr Cleverly met China's Vice President Han Zheng astatine the Great Hall of the People successful Beijing. He is besides expected to clasp talks with China's overseas affairs curate Wang Yi.

His sojourn comes arsenic the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee criticised the government's attack to China successful a caller study connected UK argumentation successful the Indo-Pacific.

The study describes the activities of the Chinese Communist Party arsenic "a menace to the UK and its interests".

It raises concerns astir a deficiency of coherence successful the government's attack and calls for an unclassified mentation of its China strategy to beryllium published to supply guidance to the nationalist and backstage sectors.

The committee besides argues that each applicable ministers should beryllium briefed connected the higher classification mentation of the strategy.

The committee's Conservative chairwoman, Alicia Kearns, said: "The confidential, elusive China strategy is buried heavy successful Whitehall, kept hidden adjacent from elder ministers crossed government," she said.

"How tin those implementing argumentation - and making laws - bash truthful without an knowing of the wide strategy?"

Asked connected Tuesday if Mr Cleverly should beryllium visiting Beijing, she told the BBC: "It is much important that we are successful the country with them successful stark disagreement, alternatively than cutting disconnected relations."

However, erstwhile Conservative enactment person and curate Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who is 1 of 5 MPs sanctioned by China, said the sojourn was the latest signifier of "Project Kowtow".

He told the PA quality bureau the UK presumption "smells terribly of appeasement".

"It's similar we privation much business, truthful we don't privation to upset the Chinese excessively much," helium said.

"What we extremity up with is that they deliberation we are conscionable excessively weak."

Labour's shadiness overseas caput David Lammy accused the Conservative authorities of much than a decennary of "division, inconsistency and complacency towards China".

He said the authorities needed to unafraid "tangible diplomatic wins" including an extremity to Chinese sanctions connected British parliamentarians.